


Keith the Wannabe Homewrecker

by amassivehomosexual



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-08 16:29:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7764934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amassivehomosexual/pseuds/amassivehomosexual
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>College AU: Lance has a boyfriend, but Keith falls for him anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying my hand at a multi-chapter fic. Pray 4 me

Keith places his hands on his hips and carefully surveys his work. He didn’t have a whole lot to move into his dorm room, but his parents didn’t stick around to help once they unloaded all his belongings from the car. Keith is grateful they even went that far, really; he half expected them to hand him a bus ticket into the city. Even though he doubts he’ll be seeing them again, and definitely not any time soon, their goodbyes were not particularly long or remotely emotional. 

The only reason he’s here instead of struggling to get a job with a measly high school diploma is because of a scholarship. He’s stuck in astrophysics now and needs to maintain a 3.5 GPA to keep the full-ride, but he’s still delighted. He’s pretty sure it’s what he wants to do (fingers crossed) and he knows as long as he stays focused he’ll be able to keep his grades up.

Already, though, he’s tempted to go out and meet people. There’s a buzz of chatter echoing through the halls. Even though the dorm room is cramped (despite it being one of the few singles) he already feels much more at home than he ever did growing up. It’s friendly here, and Keith’s window gives him a view of the river instead of an unkempt neighborhood. 

He knows he can’t afford distractions, that he needs to stay focused on school instead of trying to make friends. But, classes don’t start for another few days, and Keith doesn’t have much to do yet except read ahead in textbooks and skim the few syllabi that are already available… Feeling quite rebellious, Keith cracks his door open just enough to look inviting. If someone wants to come talk to him, well, that’s not his fault.

He isn’t expecting the whirlwind that arrives when someone knocks on his door. He can’t even get to his feet before a skinny boy is bursting into his room. “Hey, I’m Lance!” he greets, sticking out his hand. “I’m down in 524.”

Keith nods like he has any idea where that is. His room is at the very beginning of one of the four wings and he hadn’t felt the need to explore any further down. “Keith,” he offers, shaking Lance’s hand. His grip is nice and firm, and his fingers are strong despite how thin they look. They’re a little colder than Keith’s. 

“I know,” Lance laughs. “It’s on your door.” Keith flushes. “Guys, get in here! He’s normal,” he calls behind himself. Two more bodies shuffle through the door. Lance clears a space on Keith’s desk and hoists himself onto the edge.

“Make yourself at home,” Keith mumbles under his breath.

“Sorry about him,” the big one laughs. “I’m his roommate, Hunk. It’s nice to meet you.” Hunk’s size is intimidating, but his easy grin puts Keith at ease.

“I’m Pidge,” the little one says, pushing up their too-big glasses.

Lance starts swinging his feet, heels thumping against the drawers of Keith’s desk. “There aren’t a lot of people moved in yet and we’re bored, so we’re gonna order pizza and watch a movie if you wanna hang out.”

Keith smiles, and even he can tell it must look awkward on his face. “Okay.”

He follows the others out of his room and locks it behind him. Lance starts chattering about some movie he just knows Hunk will love, and Keith lets his eyes wander down Lance’s back. He’s not bad looking, Keith decides, but doesn’t let his mind travel any further down that route.

Lance puts in the movie once they’re all settled in his and Hunk’s room. It’s some godawful comedy, but he and Hunk eat it up. They’re in hysterics by the time the pizza arrives. Thankfully, Pidge is there to share confused glances with Keith. Keith grows even more perplexed when Lance starts shaking a tube of red pepper flakes onto his pizza like his life depended on it. He notices Keith’s raised eyebrow and flashes him a grin.

“What? Surprised by my wrist strength?” Lance laughs. His smirk turns coy. “My hands are practiced.”

Thankfully, Hunk smacks Lance in the arm. Keith hopes it distracts everyone enough to keep them from noticing the red blooming on his face.

 

\---

 

Keith hates himself a little bit for it, but he’s unable to refuse an invitation from his new friends. Even once classes start, he’s with them more often than not. He meets Pidge’s roommate, Allura, who is serious and responsible and picks up too many shifts at the front desk. They stay up far too late, to the point where the floor’s RA has had to knock and tell them to quiet down more than once. Lance always mocks him once he’s gone, twirling his pretend moustache, and Keith acts like he doesn’t find it hilarious. He’s never had a group of friends like this before, people who genuinely seemed to want to spend time with him, and it’s nicer than he’d ever imagined. He forgives himself for allowing this luxury in his free time. Besides, once in a while they do actually buckle down and get work done together (even if the breaks are frequent and they can’t keep silent for more than ten minutes).

He slowly learns more about the four. Allura came from overseas a couple years ago to live with her father. She’s studying business management; Keith thinks it suits her bossy tendencies, but he’s too afraid to ever say that to her face. He’s pretty sure she comes from a well to do family, but she’s down to Earth enough and doesn’t ever bring it up. Hunk has been close friends with Lance since their freshman year of high school. He’s here to study engineering, though he’s not sure what kind yet. He’s great at cooking and steals bits and pieces from the dining hall (“Hey, we’re paying a lot for this!” he justifies) to make wonderful things even with just the little toaster oven he snuck into the dorm. Pidge is majoring in computer science and would rather go by “they,” thank you very much. They’re from out of state and are on a scholarship similar to Keith’s. It makes Keith feel better about socializing. If Pidge thinks they can pull it off, so can Keith.

And Lance. Lance is clingy, and loud, and argues with Keith about everything. He can talk until Keith thinks his ears might start bleeding. When he smiles and laughs, Keith gets a little lightheaded. He’s studying astrophysics along with Keith, and they find out they’re taking a couple of the same classes. Lance isn’t the best study partner, but Keith keeps going over notes with him anyway. 

He won’t eat his pizza crusts. He’ll scarf down a whole pizza piled high in ridiculous toppings and then some, but he refuses to touch the edges. 

“Are you five?” Keith asks the first time he notices. “What a waste.”

Lance manages to look offended even with his cheeks stuffed. He rushes to swallow his bite and almost chokes. “It’s boring!” he defends. “It’s just bread!”

“The crust makes the pizza! It’s the best part!”

“It’s the worst!”

Keith scowls and picks up one of the discarded pieces. “You’re a child,” he spits. He sets to work polishing off Lance’s leftovers.

It becomes a thing. Lance always sets his pizza box between them and tosses his crusts to Keith’s side when he’s done. Some part of Keith tells him he should find this gross, but most of him is pleased as punch to have a silly little routine with Lance. He’s done quite a poor job at fighting down his crush.

 

\---

 

Everyone agrees that Friday nights should never be spent on schoolwork or studying unless absolutely mandatory. This is the night they usually go out to eat or curl up with a movie marathon instead of textbooks and laptops. So when Lance scampers into Keith’s room with his backpack, Keith is understandably confused. “Do you have a test coming up or something?”

Lance smirks and tosses his backpack to Keith. “Look inside.”

Keith unzips the bag and almost drops it to the floor when he gets a good look. “Lance!” he hisses. “If you get caught with this–”

“Loosen up,” Lance groans, flopping onto Keith’s bed. “It’s a Friday night, have some fun! We won’t get caught as long as we don’t make a scene.”

Keith pulls the bottle out of the otherwise empty backpack. It’s vodka, and from the looks of it, cheap stuff. He wrinkles his nose. “Are you planning on drinking this straight?”

“God, no!” Lance starts making himself perfectly comfortable, grabbing Keith’s pillows and blankets and getting a nice little nest started. “Hunk and Pidge are buying soda.”

“Where did you even get this?” He twirls the bottle around in his hands as if examining it will provide him with answers.

“My boyfriend is 21,” Lance says proudly. He beams and flashes Keith a peace sign. Keith’s stomach drops to his feet.

“You never talked about a boyfriend.”

He squirms, looking bashful. “Well. I didn’t know how you’d react.”

Keith hums and sets the bottle down onto his desk. “It’s cool. I’m gay.”

“Oh!” Keith can hear the smile in his voice without looking. “Are we actually twins, Keith? Dick-loving astrophysics majors!”

Keith flushes. “Don’t say that! Besides, I’m the one who got the scholarship, you’re just an inferior me.”

“Am not! I’m older!”

“So what? I’m better!”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

“Guys!” Pidge snaps, throwing the door open. “We can hear you all the way down the hall.”

Keith crosses his arms over his chest and Hunk and Pidge set their cases of soda onto the floor. “It’s Lance’s fault.”

“It is not!”

“Are you serious?” Pidge groans, holding the bridge of their nose. Hunk rubs their shoulders. Keith and Lance both pout, but they settle down.

Hunk starts making drinks in an assortment of unmatched cups and water bottles. Lance leans forward into Keith’s personal space. “Your hair is stupid,” he whispers, but he’s smiling. Keith grins back. It's impossible not to be swept away by his charm.

In the morning, Keith wants to die for a hundred different reasons.

Actually, just a couple. First, he feels like shit. He’s not the most experienced drinker, and his competitive streak caused him to take a few too many shots with Lance. He’s not sure he had any water other than the few sips Hunk forced him to take before he dragged Lance back to bed. He also has a bruise the size of a half dollar on his shin that he doesn’t remember getting.

Second, Lance has a boyfriend.

Keith groans and rolls over. He wishes Lance would have told him sooner; maybe he could have avoided catching feelings. Honestly, he deserves this for allowing himself to get so distracted and swept away. 

At least his feelings didn’t have a chance to get too intense. They’ve only known each other for a month or so, after all. And sure, Keith’s heart leaps to his throat whenever he hears Lance’s peals of laughter in the hall or sees Lance jogging towards him on the way home from class, but it’s not like he’s _ in love _ with him or anything.

Keith shoves his pillow over his face and tries to ignore the way it still smells like Lance’s stupid cologne.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this written days ago and was just too lazy to edit it, whoops.

Keith slowly manages to get a grip on himself. Really, though, the only thing that motivates him to ever leave his bed again is his dehydration and a not so pleasant smell that he suspects is himself. He takes a few gulps of water, gathers his things, and ignores the mess his room has become in order to begin his trek down to the floor men’s room. 

He wrinkles his nose when he enters the bathroom to the sound of gagging. He’s not all that surprised to find Lance bent over in an unlocked stall. Keith rolls his eyes and sits next to the poor idiot; the cold tile feels nice against his feverish skin. Lance wipes the his mouth with the back of his hand and offers a little grin.

“You look like shit,” Keith says.

Lance snorts. “Likewise, my man.” Even this turns out to be too much for him. He groans and buckles forward, but nothing comes out except a little sob. Keith rubs his back. “Shiro’s gonna kill me.”

“Shiro?”

“I have a date with him today,” Lance whimpers. “How are we supposed to bang…?”

Keith hauls himself back to his feet. “Okay, you’re fine.”

“Keith,” Lance whines, but he’s already pulling a shower curtain closed behind himself. “So mean, I’m telling Allu–” He’s drowned out by the water starting. 

Once he’s cleaned up and back in his room, Keith resists for all of ten minutes before he’s got his laptop turned on and opened to Facebook. Fortunately, Lance is only friends with one Shiro. Unfortunately, he looks damn near perfect.

There’s no question that he’s Lance’s boyfriend. It doesn’t seem like he uses his account much; most of his timeline is just photos he’s been tagged in. They aren’t Facebook official (not that Keith checked Lance’s profile the day after they met) and none of their photos are particularly revealing of their relationship. Still, they’re standing next to each other in almost all of Shiro’s photos, Shiro usually with a hand on Lance’s back and a soft expression on his face. 

Keith digs a little further. He discovers that Shiro went to Lance’s high school, that they were in a science and astronomy club together, and that Shiro goes to the same university as they do. There’s hardly an unflattering photo of him anywhere. Keith can’t find if he’s an athlete or gym rat or what, but he’s tall and built and unfairly handsome. 

Keith wants to hate him. He closes the tab and tries not to think about what Lance is doing with him tonight.

 

\---

 

The next Friday is more of the same. They’re freshmen in college after all, with limited budgets and a significant lack of fake IDs. Everyone piles into Pidge and Allura’s room with the aim to finish off Lance’s bottle. 

Pidge is going off about something related to a coding class, something about recursion. Only Hunk seems to understand, but Allura is politely nodding along. Keith doesn’t even try, just leans against someone’s desk and lets himself zone out. It doesn’t last long; Lance is soon poking his thigh from where he lies on the floor.

“Keith, hey, Keith,” he slurs. “You’re great. You know that, right?”

Keith flushes. He blames it on the alcohol. “Um. Thanks.”

“How are you single?”

“I’m, uh. Not really looking, I guess.”

Lance giggles, and Keith wants to break his horrible, cute face so he won’t feel these butterflies anymore. “If I was single, I’d hit on you so hard. I don’t understand how someone hasn’t eaten you alive.” His fingers pluck at the seam of Keith’s jeans. “You’re so great. I’m glad we’re friends, even if you’re a big dumb asshole.”

Keith swallows down the lump in his throat. He’s just drunk, he repeats to himself a few times. “You should slow down.”

“Nooo,” he whines. “Let’s do shots.”

Hunk turns away from Pidge’s rant, which has grown significantly more animated. “Yeah, no, that’s a bad idea,” he says as he pulls the bottle out of Lance’s reach.

“You’re a bully, Hunk! Easy to see why  _ you’re _ single.”

“Hey, now. I’ll lock you out of the room.”

Lance snickers. “That’s fine! Keith will let me sleep with him, won’t you?” He makes a kissy face up at Keith, who grimaces.

“You can sleep in the hall,” he says. Lance gasps. 

“So mean! You’re all mean!”

Keith wants to tell him that he’s the mean one, saying all these teasing things that keep Keith hopeful, but he keeps his mouth shut.

 

\---

 

Keith’s first meeting with Shiro goes terrible. He’s asleep on his desk with his face in a textbook when he’s woken up by insistent knocking on his door. Startled and disoriented, he calls out a less than coherent “Wha-huh?” and almost falls out of his chair. The door swings open. Lance looks too judgy for Keith’s tastes.

“Morning, sunshine!” he chirps. Keith snarls at him. “Come get lunch! Shiro’s here.”

Keith furrows his brow. “Lunch?” he questions, glancing to the clock at his desk. Sure enough, it’s past noon. He groans.

“Did you try and pull an all nighter again?”

“Maybe.” He rakes fingers through his hair. “Sorry, I gotta study.”

Lance frowns at him. “Dude, come on. Shiro wants to meet you.”

“Well, I don’t want to meet anyone with taste bad enough to date you.”

“That’s rude,” another voice chuckles. It’s low and pleasant but makes Keith seize up anyway. Lance kicks the door wider to reveal the man Keith saw in so many pictures. He’s even more handsome in real life.

“What the hell,” Keith grumbles. 

“So?” Lance asks. His smile looks a little nervous, and Keith assumes it must mean something to him for Shiro and Keith to get along.

“I’ll meet you down there,” he promises. 

Keith decides pretty quickly that it was a mistake to agree to eat with them. He kind of assumed that at least Hunk would be tagging along too, but Keith is stuck by himself with the happy couple. He can’t even bring himself to dislike Shiro; he’s just too charming. Shiro is steady and confident, easily warming up to Keith and including him in their conversation. Keith is hard pressed to find any fault with him. He learns that Shiro wants to become a professor someday, that he’s a physics TA, and that no, he won’t do Lance’s homework for him. It’s fun, and Keith enjoys talking to him. His heart still hurts, though. 

Shiro asks if he wants to join them at the football game they’re going to, but Keith just snorts. “I’ve had enough third-wheeling for the day, I think.”

“Aw, come on! It’ll be fun!” Lance tugs on Keith’s sleeve. He shakes him off. 

“Nah, I have to get a paper finished. Next time.”

“We’ll hold you to that,” Shiro says with a smile. Keith has no intentions of ever repeating an event like this, but if he’s flashed a face like that again, he’s not sure he’ll be able to resist.

 

\---

 

In the way that it always happens after meeting someone, Keith begins seeing Shiro  _ everywhere _ . Usually it’s just catching a glimpse of those broad shoulders from across the street or sending a polite wave when they cross paths in the physics building, but one day they bump into each other on the track looping around the top floor of the university’s gym. They run together for a while, mostly in silence, occasionally talking about something shallow. Shiro’s apartment is near Keith’s dorm, so they walk back home side by side. 

It’s not on purpose, but it somehow becomes a regular thing. Their gym schedules are either uncannily similar, or Shiro just lives his life in the weight room (Keith would believe both options, honestly). They run into each other in the locker rooms more often than not and fall into a routine of walking to their respective homes together. It turns out they have a lot in common. Keith likes to hear about the research Shiro is helping a professor with, and Shiro… Well, Keith doesn’t think he has a whole lot of interesting conversation to offer, but Shiro seems to enjoy spending time with him all the same. 

It’s not enough to ease the bitter feeling that claws at Keith’s chest. He didn’t expect it to be.

Now that Shiro is a little more acquainted with Lance’s new friends, he begins spending time in their dorm hanging out with them. Along the way, Keith’s jealousy shifts. He finds himself jealous of Shiro, jealous of Lance, jealous of everything about their sweet and tender relationship. Lance isn’t (as) argumentative with Shiro around, and Shiro’s stern nature melts in Lance’s presence. They’re thankfully pretty respectful when it comes to PDA; just watching their fingers twine together or seeing Lance press a goodbye kiss to Shiro’s lips feels like a punch straight to Keith’s gut. He wants more than anything to take Shiro’s place, or Lance’s, or to have anyone who loves him the way they so obviously love each other.

Eventually, the last thread of control Keith has on the situation snaps. He’s walking by the mall after his last class of the day when he sees Shiro and Lance having a picnic in the grass, complete with a sickeningly cute blanket spread beneath them. The envy that clamps around his heart makes Keith dizzy and nauseous. They call him over, but he pretends he doesn’t hear. He makes a beeline for Hunk and Lance’s room when he get’s back to the dorm. He prays Hunk is home.

The door opens when he knocks, and Keith breathes a sigh of relief. “Whoa, buddy, what’s wrong?” 

Hunk ushers him inside. Keith thought he had his emotions in check; maybe Hunk is just too perceptive. Keith tosses his backpack next to the door and settles onto Hunk’s bed. A tray of cups for the Keurig on Hunk’s desk is offered to Keith. He doesn’t know why he expected anything less. He chuckles and picks out a black tea; Hunk gets the brewer going and sits down next to Keith.

“Are you good at keeping secrets?” Keith asks, keeping his eyes locked on the steaming liquid trickling into the mug.

“Sure.”

“Really good?” Keith fixes him with a look, doing his best to convey how serious he is. “Like, can’t even tell Lance good?”

Hunk looks concerned. “You’re making me nervous.”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to hear it.”

“No, it’s okay. I want to help.” The machine gives one last splutter. Hunk leans forward to grab the mug and hand it to Keith. “You can tell me anything.”

The warm ceramic between his palms is comforting. Keith blows at the surface and takes a cautious sip. It nearly burns his tongue. “I hate that Lance and Shiro are together,” he mumbles into the drink. Already, he feels guilty.

Hunk hums. “Which one are you into?”

“...Lance. Both?” Keith closes his eyes and leans forward, letting the steam rise into his face. He isn’t expecting the comforting hand to settle between his shoulderblades. 

“Sorry, man. That’s really rough.”

Keith laughs, but there’s no amusement behind it. “You don’t think I’m weird?” He doesn’t like how wobbly his voice comes out. 

The hand on his back slaps him just hard enough to jostle him a little. “You’re allowed to have feelings.”

Keith bumps his shoulder against Hunk’s. They sit in silence for a moment, Keith continuing to nurse his tea.

“Keith,” Hunk starts again. His voice is too soft, like he’s trying not to scare off a wild animal. “I know you don’t want to hear this right now, but please don’t do anything.”

Keith scowls at him. “What makes you think I would?” He’s offended Hunk thinks so low of him, if he’s being honest.

“I don’t!” Hunk looks genuine, so Keith lets his shoulders relax again. “I just gotta make sure, you know? You’re my bro, but so is Lance.”

“I know that. I don’t want to upset anyone either.” Keith finishes the last sip of his tea. He keeps holding it. There’s still lingering warmth, and it’s pleasant. “I just needed to get it off my chest.”

Hunk rubs circles on Keith’s back with his thumb. Keith wonders how much experience he has helping people sort out their feelings like this. He seems too comfortable with the situation, much more than Keith would have been. 

“It’s okay to be upset about it for now, but it’ll pass,” Hunk assures him. “You’re a good guy, Keith. Things will work out.”

Keith doesn’t want Hunk to see how watery his eyes are getting, so he pulls him into a hug. Hunk laughs and takes Keith’s mug to set it back down on his desk before he returns the gesture. He doesn’t mention it if he hears Keith sniffle.

The moment doesn’t last long. Lance returns sooner than Keith would have liked. His eyebrows shoot up to his forehead when he sees the two in their embrace. “Whoa-ho, should I leave?” he asks with a wink. Keith sighs and gets to his feet.

“I was just about to go,” he lies. “Thanks,” he whispers to Hunk before nabbing his backpack from next to Lance and hightailing it out of there.


	3. Chapter 3

Keith’s biggest flaw is his lack of self-control, and he knows it. At his core he’s an emotional and impulsive person, and no matter how hard he tries to restrain himself, his feelings win out over his attempts at calmness and logic every time.

He tells himself every day that he needs to give this stupid crush up. It’s never going to amount to anything. Shiro and Lance are very much in love, and even if they weren’t, they’re not the kind of people who would be interested in Keith. They’re both well-adjusted and social creatures where Keith is reclusive and introverted. 

He needs to get some distance between himself and Lance. He needs to stop walking home with Shiro every other day. He doesn’t do either of those things.

Keith tries, sort of. He’ll elbow Lance in the stomach when he gets too clingy, but if he latches on again after, Keith lets him be. He attempts to distract himself by talking to a boy in his calculus class, but he’s a little too sulky and bland and morally loose for Keith’s tastes. And, well, he’ll admit he doesn’t do much in the way of avoiding Shiro at the gym. He blames it on being a creature of habit.

It’s especially hard to get a grip when Lance is the most affectionate drunk on the planet.

Lance is crying on Keith’s thigh, tonight, curled up on the floor. They started as bad tears (he had an argument with Shiro and feels terrible about it, from what Keith gathered from his slurred babbling) but morphed into good ones (Keith is such a good friend, he loves him, he’s so lucky to have met such wonderful people who let him be overemotional). It’s hard for Keith to keep his emotions in check when Lance gets tender like this. There aren’t many opportunities for his feelings to show on a day to day basis, not through their banter and bickering. With Lance’s warm weight in his lap smiling up at him in a dimly lit room, however, Keith is close to breaking.

He pushes Lance’s head to the floor and stands. Hunk perks up, mother hen instincts kicking in even while intoxicated. “Where are you going?”

“I’m just getting my water bottle. I’ll be back,” Keith assures him. Hunk nods, and Keith carefully steps over half-filled cups and sprawled out bodies. It’s only been an hour or so since they’ve started, but nobody has quite learned how to manage their liquor consumption yet.

Keith makes it to his room without stumbling into their RA, which is a blessing. He’s not completely fortunate, though–his bedroom door slams closed behind himself without him touching it. When he turns around to see what happened, he finds Lance leaning against the door and giggling. Keith knows his senses must be pretty dulled to have not noticed anyone following him.

Lance’s cheeks are pink, and he still has his cup in his hand. Keith frowns. “Someone could have seen you with that.”

“Who cares, nothing actually happens if you get written up.” Lance sets the cup down and grabs Keith’s arm, tugging him onto the bed. Keith’s frown deepens. Lance pokes at the crease between his eyebrows. “You’re so pouty all the time! It’s cute, but you’re gonna get wrinkles.”

Keith swats his hand away. He tries to sit up, but Lance slings an arm around his waist to keep him held to the mattress. “You’re too young to worry about wrinkles,” he grumbles.

“Prevention is the cure,” Lance laughs. He props his head up on his elbow.

“Let’s go back.”

Lance whines. “No, I wanna spend time with you!”

“You can spend time with me in Pidge and Allura’s room.”

“But I want  _ alone _ time with you!”

Keith’s mouth feels dry. He swallows. He knows he should force Lance out of his room before he does something stupid. His lights are off, and if Lance keeps saying things like that with his face so close, the atmosphere is going to be too much for Keith to keep his hands to himself. But he’s selfish, and he lacks self-control, and Lance looks so nice on top of his sheets, so Keith just wiggles his way out of Lance’s grip and sits up against the wall. Lance scrambles to follow him upright.

“You’re such a child,” Keith complains, no heat behind it.

Lance just giggles again. “You’re pretty.”

“Uh, thanks.”

“I have a boyfriend.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “I’m aware.”

Lance leans in closer. Keith can smell his breath; it reeks of cheap beer and flavored rum. “I have a boyfriend, so I can’t kiss you.”

Keith’s shoulders tense. “What?” he croaks.

Eyes flick down to Keith’s mouth. “I can’t,” he says again.

“No, you can’t.” Keith’s voice is too close to a squeak. He needs to push Lance away. He doesn’t get any further than putting a hand on Lance’s sternum.

“I don’t want to fight with Shiro again.”

“Why did you fight with him the first time?”

Lance just smiles and licks his lips. Keith hates the way his heart lurches. 

The doorknob rattles and light pours into the room. Keith finally shoves Lance back.

“Oh, good,” Allura says, flicking up the light switch. Half her hair has fallen from her bun. Keith blinks hard against the sudden light. “We thought you guys might be doing the deed.”

Lance points a finger at her. “We were bonding! You ruined it!”

Keith meets Hunk’s eyes from behind Allura. He seems upset. Keith looks away.

“Stop being stupid,” Keith snaps, sliding off the mattress. “You just followed me in here and tried to take a nap on my bed.”

“Nooo, we were bonding!”

Keith scowls at him hard enough that Lance pouts and gives up. He slinks over to Allura, snagging his cup on the way. “Okay, back we go,” Allura tells him, steadying him with a hand on the small of his back.

“You coming?” Hunk asks when Keith doesn’t follow.

Keith hesitates. He doesn’t want to come off as suspicious though (and quite frankly he’d like to drink enough to forget this ever happened) so he nods. He doesn’t remember to grab his water bottle until Hunk gently reminds him.

The night continues, and Keith pretends like it never happened.

 

\---

 

Either Lance doesn’t remember, or he doesn’t care to bring it up. Keith is pretty okay with either option.

Life goes on. The weather gets colder. Keith trudges through the snow with Shiro at his side. He can feel the ends of his hair freezing and deeply regrets not drying off properly after his shower at the gym. Shiro laughs at him for it, which Keith would be mad at if it wasn’t so surprising for him to laugh at things that weren’t Lance. 

“Are you going home for Christmas?” Shiro asks him. It’s a perfectly innocent and expected question, but it ramps up Keith’s nerves anyway.

He rubs his gloved hands together. “Nah.”

“What, really? Are you staying in the dorms?” Keith nods, and Shiro frowns at him. “Doesn’t your family want you to come home?”

Keith turns his face away. “Doubt it,” he mumbles. He hopes Shiro doesn’t press any further, but things haven’t really been going his way lately. 

“You can’t spend the holidays in an empty dorm building.”

“I don’t really have a choice.”

Shiro looks too distressed over this, Keith thinks. “You can stay with me.”

“I’ll be fine, Shiro, it’s just for a few weeks.” He smiles halfheartedly in an attempt to reassure him. “I never really celebrated the holidays anyway, it’s not a big deal.”

“That’s not as comforting as you think it is.” Shiro squeezes his shoulder. “I’ll be here for most of the break, I’m just going home Christmas weekend. And even then, Lance and Hunk and I only live half an hour away. If you need anything, I’m sure any of us–”

“Shiro. Don’t worry so much. Just enjoy your vacation.”

He doesn’t look too happy about it, but Shiro lets the subject drop.

 

\---

 

Finals roll around, and Keith can’t spare any time to worry about his feelings. He knew college material was going to be harder than high school, but he’s still shocked at the number of Bs he’s sporting. He spends most of his waking hours with his nose in his textbooks and even manages to pry a copy of the previous semester’s final exam from the boy he’s been flirting with in calculus (he promises Rolo a date that he has no intention of following through with). Even at the gym, he swaps out his usual music for pre-recorded lectures.

It’s worth the effort. He pulls all but one of his grades back up to an A once all is said and done. (The other ends up a B+; he’ll take it.)

He bids goodbye to everyone as they move out of the dorms for the winter break. He’s told over and over again that he’s always free to visit. He really doesn’t want to interfere with anyone’s vacation, but he nods along anyway.

It’s bizarre at first. Keith isn’t entirely sure what to do with himself now. He doesn’t have any schoolwork to pass the time and isn’t very good at keeping a conversation going over text. The gym is still open, so he pours more than enough hours into working out. He only runs into Shiro once, but he’s arriving while Keith is leaving. A week into January, he gets bored (lonely) enough to actually start contemplating paying Shiro a visit. That idea gets squashed when Lance texts him.

“Shiro and I broke up,” is all it says. 

Keith doesn’t know what to feel. Part of him is crushed. He can only imagine how upset Lance is right now, and he wants nothing more than to be with him and help him through it. Another part of him swells with excitement, adrenaline rushing through his veins at the thought of Lance being single, of  _ Shiro _ being single. He’s disgusted with himself. 

He calls Lance.

“Hi,” Lance answers. The greeting sounds chipper enough, but Keith doesn’t buy it. 

“Are you okay?”

There’s a little laugh on the other side. “Yeah, I… It just happened, I’m still not really…”

Keith settles onto his bed. He’s not really sure how to deal with this kind of stuff, so he decides to take the direct approach. “Did you guys fight again?”

“Sort of. I don’t know.” Lance sighs. “I mean, we did. But only a little, and it wasn’t… It was a mutual agreement, I guess.”

If Keith was bewildered before, he’s not sure what to call his current state. “I don’t really get it,” he admits, “but I’m sorry. That sucks.”

“Yeah…” Keith thinks he hears a sniffle, but he doesn’t comment. “Are you free this weekend?”

He barks out a laugh, startling even himself. “Beyond free.”

“Do you wanna hang out? I have a car, I’ll come back to campus.”

They plan for Saturday at noon. Keith writes it into his planner, the page otherwise empty for the week, and smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just moved and the semester is starting for me soon, so please forgive slow updates!


End file.
